Troubleshooting Reception Problems

Television has been a staple of modern life since the post-WWII era. As the devices became more and more affordable, the prevalence of television has only grown. It is the primary way that many people watch sports, consume news, and watch television programmes. There are those who like to watch their programming on their computers and mobile devices, but for the vast majority of people, the traditional television is still the most common option. Also, many people like to use their televisions to watch over-the-air broadcasts and their devices for other things. Over-the-air broadcasts are preferable to many other types of television delivery because they are much more affordable. You don’t have to deal with the monthly expenses of cable or satellite. However, they are slightly less reliable. An antenna is somewhat at the mercy of forces beyond your control.

If the signal being broadcast is disrupted before it reaches your home, it can affect your picture quality or even your ability to receive a signal at all. This is called interference.

Sources of Interference

Sources of interference can be physical as well as radioactive. Physical impediments to your TV antenna reception are things such as your walls and doors. They can also be factors beyond your control such as trees and clouds. If you have over-the-air communications now, you know that a bad storm or even just a very cloudy day can affect the quality of your picture. If you are having picture quality problems, you should first consider when they first started. Are the problems new or have they persisted? If they are new problems, you should think back to anything that might have changed at around the same time the problems began occurring. For example, did you change the direction of the antenna? Did you put up a Christmas tree? Did a neighbour also install an antenna? Many different physical factors could be the case. If the problem has arisen in coordination with some kind of storm or bad weather event, then you can probably assume that is the cause. If it doesn’t remedy itself when the weather changes, you have a problem.

Radiation Interference

Radiation evokes images of nuclear waste, but in truth, it is anything that also emits a signal. Your antenna has to receive and interpret a signal from kilometres away. If there is anything that is producing a competing signal, then it might negate the television broadcast. Competing signals can come from satellites, everyday appliances, other antennas, and even car radios. If you have just turned something on or just changed something, you should try turning it off to see how your reception reacts.

If you go through all of these steps and your problem is not solved, you likely have a larger problem. You should call a professional to talk you through the troubleshooting steps. If those don’t work or if you don’t feel up to it, call a professional for an on-site inspection. A professional will be able to determine the issue and remedy it without resorting to a full replacement of your antenna.